TV judge’s actions as DA come under fire

Friday, Jan. 28, 2000 | 11:03 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- In granting a new trial to a Reno man who has been on death row for more than 20 years, the Nevada Supreme Court Thursday said Mills Lane, the television judge and former boxing referee, withheld evidence favorable to the defense when he was the Washoe County district attorney prosecuting the case.

The court said Lane and Cal Dunlap, who both handled the case, failed to turn over evidence that might have cleared John Mazzan at his trial. He was convicted of first-degree murder in the Dec. 22, 1978, fatal stabbing of Richard Minor, the son of a Reno judge.

The court said Lane and Dunlap did not act in bad faith but said "the failure to disclose evidence favorable to the defense violates due process irrespective of the good faith or bad faith of the prosecution."

Mazzan, who said he spent the night sleeping on the couch after taking drugs with Minor, said he awoke to the sound of a scuffle in the kitchen and saw Minor struggling with someone.

Mazzan said he heard two people running and then a car driving away. Mazzan, who was found with blood all over him, left and did not report the crime.

Police received evidence that Minor had been dealing drugs with two men from the Midwest.

After the arrest of Mazzan, police concentrated on the two men, but they were never able to put together a case, despite their suspicions.

The decision said, "The evidence in the police reports provided support for Mazzan's defense that someone else murdered Minor because of his drug dealing."

It said material evidence was not disclosed to the defense and that undermined "confidence in the outcome of the trial."

Also on Thursday, the court ordered a new trial for Cristobal Morales, convicted in Las Vegas of trafficking in cocaine.

The court said Morales should have been allowed eight peremptory challenges of the jury, instead of four.

At the time, Morales was charged with an offense that carried a penalty of 25 years to life in prison.

Nevada law says a defendant is entitled to eight peremptory challenges when the sentence is either death or life in prison. The Supreme Court, in 1966, held that a defendant is entitled to eight peremptory challenges only when no shorter sentence than life may be imposed.

Since then the sentencing laws have been changed.

In another decision, Leslie Eugene Graham, sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of an 8-month old girl in Las Vegas, lost his appeal.

Graham claimed he was entitled to a new trial because the jury should have been instructed that it could bring back a verdict of second-degree murder.

The victim, Chelsey Hachez, was the daughter of Graham's live-in girlfriend, Kimberly Ann Hachez. He claimed the baby became unconscious when she fell from a bed and struck her head.

In a ruling Thursday, the court said, "Uncontroverted medical evidence established that the cause of death was hemorrhage and brain swelling associated with three separate skull fractures caused by 'blunt force trauma.' "

It said experts testified the injuries were not consistent with a mere fall from a bed onto the floor.

In another ruling, the court dismissed the appeal of Vinh Sing Truong, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, robbery and burglary in Clark County. Truong was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

He claimed Clark County District Attorney Stewart Bell was his lawyer in an earlier case. He said Bell violated the duty of loyalty and confidentiality owed Truong by prosecuting the murder case. This rendered his guilty plea involuntary, Truong claimed.